Home Sweet Homeschool

Home Sweet Homeschool
Home Sweet Homeschool

Friday, May 29, 2009

Seeya Spring...

The time is really passing us by here...we took a pic of our Spring bulletin board (sorry only about 1/3 ) and are taking it down over the weekend...getting ready to put our "Summer 2009" board together...we try and include of course any celebrations, the weather, etc but also pin up pictures, letters, postcards received...
Aideen is still planning her design of Summer...and Im planning Aideens graduation from 4th class, we usually have the little ceremony on Daisys birthday...Aideen wears here grad hat, and gets a certificate and small gift and ballons are let off for her and Daisy...even though ou HS year never ends as such, its a nice way to mark all her hard work and years achievements...

In the post...

Today Aideen received a letter from one of her many Homeschool penpals...Anne in the States...having friends is great...and also comparing ideas, etc is wonderful for both Aideen and me...its also a help with for English, and Geography...and already Aideens been lucky enough to actually meet up with one of her pals, Rachel, when we went to Florida last year...life-long friendships...
Also I was delighted to receive this quarterly publication of the Primary Times...its a free magazine given to schhol kids in Ireland and has great ideas for days out,etc...we missed it when Aideen left public school so I contacted the Mum whos in charge and she VERY kindly agreed to put us on the posting list...she also knows we are huge into the environment and our copy always arrives in a used envelope...nice lady :)



"Dig"


The garden is a big feature of the curriculum at the moment and when the sun shines, it literally IS our classroom :)
Daisys favourite hobby at the moment is digging...and boy can she dig !!! Here she is taken peatmoss OUT of my carefully tended pots...oh well...learning, its all learning :0)

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Project on Japan




Aideens geography project this month ,which she finished this morning ,was all about Japan...as ever we all found out amazing facts that we never knew...I didnt know that fruit is extremly expensive in Japan, you can expect to pay $2 for an apple and an astonising $100 for a watermelon !!!
We cant wait to try on the beautiful Kimonos that our friend Kris sent us...we`ll make sure to take pics !

Bak yard Archaeology

Aideen loves finding bits of old delph, etc and washed and keeps them in our history section, we love making up stories about what they might have been and who used them, etc. Today Daisy even got in on the act ,but was more interested in the worms :)


Friday, May 22, 2009

Spring Postcard Exchange


Heres Aideen`s postcards all written and ready to post to her HS friends in America...well done Pebs for organising another great project !

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Woodwork lesson


See the shelves on the left ??? Not bad seeing they were made out of recycled wood and by my 11 year old daughter, huh ??? (Big Mommy smile) !!!! We have an old wardrobe in our schoolroom for art supplies, etc and we were running out of shelving space so Sean and Aideen made some terrific shelves this week for the woodwork lesson...in the photo they are empty...I wanted to "show them off" :0)

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Teacher sample pack time

We shop about once a year with this Irish company...they supply all the schools here in Ireland with classroom supplies, books, posters ,etc. Its that time of year again when we are eagerly awaiting the poatman ,as a teacher , I am entitled to a free teacher-sample pack...I know, I know, worse than the kids...Daisy loves the stickers !!!!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Aideens latest recipie...

This kid can cook :0) !!! You HAVE to taste Aideens Homemade ginger -ale...its SO fantastic !!! Its a simple recipie, basically, you chop up 3 pieces of fresh ginger ,add 1.5 cups of sugar, and 2 cups of water...then you simmer it all for about 5 minutes...now cover and let "sit" for an hour. Then strain and store in the fridge. When you want a glass, put 1 part ginger-ale mixture to 3 parts sparkling water and add a slice of fresh lime...its a taste sensation...and bless this kid she even washes up after he cookery class !!!


Animal of the month


Well as you can see, the animal for the month of May is a hamster...each month, Aideen chooses an animal to study in-depth, she worked SO hard on this one...and found some amazing facts about hamsters that none of us knew previously...I LOVE this about homeschooling, its like getting a second education :0)

Saturday, May 16, 2009

HOLOCAUST...The Butterfly Project


We are taking part in the Holocaust Memorial Butterfly exhibition !!!! Its estimated that over 1.5 million children were murdered during this awful time in our history, so a gallery in NYC is asking children to make butterflies and send them to be exhibited, they are hoping to get one for each child that died...so far Aideen has made 5 butterflies, but this is my favourite...she drew out a simple butterfly outline, then using thread and beads she "embroidered" the shape onto card...this week we are also studying a book (childrens) about the Holocaust...

Saturday, May 9, 2009

The Royal Canal




The canal flows through Maynooth on its way to "the big smoke" (Dublin) adn for our wildlife project, Aideen has choosen to do a project on the canal...its hostory ,its wildlife ,songs and poems its featured in etc...it will be exciting and on-going as we plan to visit as many towns that the canal flows through as is possible...watch this space !


The wonderful swan, who we call "Lir" has been a family friend since Aideen was a baby...even then she showed no fear as this gentle giant took bread from her fingers...

Kite flying...







Last Friday was SO windy and Ella was visiting so we buttoned up the coats and took our kite flying, and YES, much to the amusement of all on the main street we sang the Mary Poppins song !!!! Look at their faces....young and old alike , people even stopped on their way to the train station to have a look :)

Meet Henry the eight




Oh happy days...our schoolroom has a hamster living in it again ! Aideen is SO happy...Henry the 8th ,or just plain old Henry for short ,is SO lively...he tears around the cage in a blur ! Hes a cutie though ,we all think he looks like a chipmunk with his colouring and that strip down his back !

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

"clever"




Daisy painted, and painted and then painted some more today....only for we use and re-use paper I`d feel very responsible for the rainforest situation !!!!!


Anyway ,Sean and myself were giving it all the "ohhs" and "ahhs" that are expected as she painted when , clear as a bell she looked up from her painting ,straight at us and said "clever"...ok Daisy you are clever :0)


To see how I use the kids pics go to my other blog "Tias Time"...


Typing lessons




Aideen is getting quite handy at the typing...shes even using it to write letters to her penpals across the world ! Today, she was writing, I mean typing a 2page letter to a penpal (honest) ,and when things slowed down a cup of tea and a sandwich were called into action (these hungry hungry kids ...) anyway after the pit-stop she put on her fav cd of the moment ,Vanessa Mae , and the keys were soon clicking away again !

Creative Aideen




Then , for sewing class, Aideen cut out her very first "pattern" ...shes very excited about this...its a simple little teddy bear...she says she is sewing it for Daisy, bless her heart ! Aideen seems to be very into sewing, Im ok at hand-sewing and can run up a cushion cover on the machine with the best of them, but the way she is going shes going to need sewing classes shortly ...






Today,as always, Aideen was on a creative marathon ! For art class she made a "joan Mirco" style clay bowl and pushed beads into it ,when its dry she wants to paint the outside of the bowl gold...she says shes calling it "The Magic Dragon bowl"...

Happy Teachers Day :0)




This morning w0hen I walked into the HSroom I was thrilled to find on my desk , a new mug ,a packet of my fav peppermint tea and a lovley homemade (they are the best) card from Aideen ...Daisy then came in with a "You are a star" sticker which she put on...my leg ! (After wards she changed her mind and took it off me and gave it to the dog ,oh well ,its the thought that counts) ! Still it IS nice to be appreciated !


Sunday, May 3, 2009

First Basketball Game of the season

Daisy and myself managed to sneak away from the game for a quick go on the slide :0)














We managed to save and buy a basketball for PE class ,and we all had a great time...I dont know who enjoyed it most...the kids or the adults! We are so lucky to have a basketball court just minutes away from the house...no excuse for getting out of gym class :0)

What owl ?


When we went for a walk down the avenue the other day , Aideen kept saying "Mam, do you see the owl"? Of course I launched into an explanation (it becomes habit when you are a HS mom...you`re always on "duty")...anyway, Aideen eventually managed to stop me going on about owls being nocturnal, etc and said "no Mam ,THAT owl"...someone had drawn an owl on the pillar at the beginning of the avenue...nice isnt it ?

A gift from Aunty Maeve


aunty Maeve gave Daisy the gift that literally made her go "Ohhhhh" (as in imagine the amount of wall coverage with this lot) ... :o)

Shes taken to colouring in pages upon pages...and its amazing for her age shes always held a pen/pencil etc correctly ,my GUESS is that its because shes never seen them held any other way in this house...I dont know? Heres to coloured walls !